


Grey Area

by Agent3Novi



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: AU where Link & Shadow have Sibling Dynamics and are kids, Alternate Universe - Siblings, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life, so I guess I have to write it myself, there is a depressingly small amount of this dynamic in the fandom, title may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-06-29 09:32:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19827343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent3Novi/pseuds/Agent3Novi
Summary: "Brothers, that’s what they had been for as long as either could remember. Always side by side, the perfect duo... "..."Well, they didn't say wecouldn'tbreak more pots, right?"---((Or, an AU wherein a boy and his shadow are siblings, because we don't have enough of this in this fanbase))





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my pure self-indulgence loz AU! :D
> 
> I wrote this because there is a sad, _sad_ lack of Sibling Dynamics for these characters in this fanbase (not counting all the Four Swords fics bc most have some pretty shippy undertones, ya weirdos).
> 
> The setting timeline-wise is pretty ambiguous, though it'll probably end up most resembling botw Hyrule because I'm most familiar with that game, feel free to put it wherever in the timeline you wish :)
> 
> Uh, the first chapter is more of a tasty-snippet to establish the status-quo, more stuff will be happening in later chapters, don't worry. ;)
> 
> Alright, now enjoy! ೕ(･ㅂ･ )

Brothers, that’s what they had been for as long as either could remember. Always side by side, the perfect duo. Well,  _ as close _ to perfect as one could get.

The forests and fields surrounding the small village were their element, the old buildings and sprawling farms their home. They ran and played endlessly, making up stories about the Two Heros who would save the land time and time again from evil monsters. If they often played in the caves when the sun cast little shadows, well, then that was just their little secret, wasn’t it?

If you were to ask anyone in the town about them, they would only comment on how the guardsman’s son was unusually quiet, and how it often seemed that he was looking into the shadows as if looking for someone. Most just dismissed it as him being a silly small child, though a few were a somewhat weirded out and tried to avoid him. The boy didn’t care, and neither did his shadowy brother.

They were content, just the two of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not _entirely_ happy with how this chapter turned out but I can't really figure out how to fix it so....
> 
> Whelp! Here you go, enjoy

Renia was abruptly woken up in the wee hours of the morning by a crash in the kitchen. She blinked the drowsiness away and then grabbed the emergency knife. There had been talk going around the village that the bokoblins had been getting more and more bold as of late, a few people had come home from work to find their house ransacked and robbed with a  _ lot _ of crude scribbles over what had remained somewhat undamaged. As she made her way through the halls, she hoped that if it  _ was _ bokoblins, they hadn’t found the nursery yet.

As she neared the kitchen, she could hear faint crying. Ohhhh if those monsters had touched a  _ single hair on her baby’s head then by the Three she’d make them all wish they hadn’t-! _

She quietly poked her head around the door, and then almost dropped the knife in shock.

The moonlight from the window glinted off a dozen small shards of pottery scattered on the ground. There was a slowly growing puddle of milk and cookie-bits around the feet of a shaking form. She couldn’t tell much about them in the low light, but she could tell that they were short, probably a small child, and very  _ very _ distressed.

The child’s head whipped around as soon as she had taken a single step into the room. Their piercing red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. She stared for what was probably an embarrassingly long time at them. The child ducked their head down and started crying harder.

Renia quickly made her way over to them, making sure to avoid any sharp shards on the way. As soon as she was close enough, she pulled them into her arms. It jarred her how cold they were, but they didn’t seem to notice as they almost literally melted into her hold. As they kept crying and she stroked their back in that perfect, calming, motherly way, she finally put it together.

_ Ah, it seems I was expecting the wrong kind of monster tonight. _

With the way the shadows clung to them as if they were one, the way they were always just slightly uncomfortably cold, the way their eyes seemed to shine with an energy that didn’t belong in the mortal world, it was crystal clear what they were. A Shadowling.

Though now the question remained, why the  _ heck _ were they in her kitchen trying to steal the milk and cookies?

“ _ ’m s-sorry, _ ” they hiccuped.

“Ah, don’t worry, it’s fine,” she tried to sooth, sounding a  _ lot _ calmer than she was feeling.

“ _ B-b-but I b-broke it... _ ” they brought up an arm and wiped their eyes.

“It was just  _ one _ milk bottle and cookie jar,” a glance at the shelves confirmed that, “we can always get another.”

They didn’t reply, just continuing to whimper and bury their head in her night-shirt. She continued stroking their back. It seemed to help them calm down, as their tears slowed and their shaking slowly stopped.

Small footsteps echoed, and Renia glanced up to see her son’s head peeking around the doorframe.

He knocked on the wood a few times, and the shadow’s head turned. Surprisingly, little Link didn’t seem scared, he just held out a hand.

The shadowling stepped out of her lap, then ran over to him and wrapped their arms around him. He returned the hug. 

Now that she was looking, the two looked almost  _ identical _ (besides the obvious differences)...

Oh.

_ Oh. _

She mental slapped herself, partially for jumping to conclusions that probably were  _ not _ true, and also for if those conclusions  _ were _ true the they were in a  _ heaping  _ load of trouble.

…

You know what? That could wait. She had two children to comfort and maybe _definitely_ put back to bed.

Renia stood up, walked over two the two and scooped them up into her arms. They both leaned in to her hold, though she could tell that the shadowling was more apprehensive about it.

“It’s too late for this, we’re going back to bed.”

They both let out groans of disappointment. 

She laughed as she started walking towards the nursery, “you both need your sleep, and Farore  _ knows _ I need some time to clean that mess up.”

The shadow muttered out another “ _ ‘m sorry _ ”. 

She just shook her head, “Don’t be, everyone messes up sometimes.”

…

A little while later and they were both tucked in. Renia had  _ tried _ to set up a second bed for the shadowling, but both they and Link had very fussily refused to be separated. It was kind of adorable to be honest. So they got to sleep in the same bed.

She had started to get up and walk towards the door, mentally going through a list of things she’d need to do,  _ mop up the milk, clean up the glass, clean up the cookie bits too... _

“... story?”  


She almost missed her son’s whisper. She sighed and pulled a book off the low table and sat back down beside the bed. She thumbed through the pages before finding a good (and decently short) story, “ _ Alright… _ Once upon a time, there was a hero, and a princess...”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly to solve the "Hey aren't small children kinda bad at keeping secrets?" issue. Future chapters should be better!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boop boop mini chapter enjoy

“ _ Do ya ever wonder ‘bout our names? _ ”

A branch was pushed aside, “No,” then on second thought, was snapped off.

The shadow hopped over a fallen log, “ _ I mean, why ‘Link’ of all names? Kinda lame if ya ask me. _ ”

He swung the branch through the air as if to cut down an invisible foe, “History nerd… ’s unique at least.”

Shadow chuckled at the memory or ten of their mother coming home with a large stack of historical books of  _ varying _ accuracy, “ _ Yea, but ‘Link” is pretty old-fashioned even by her… um... standards. _ ”

He stepped over a bush, then poked at a beedle, “... _ I _ like it… feels…  _ right. _ ”

The shadow frowned thoughtfully as it watched the bug run away, “... _ can’t argue with you there. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't expect near-daily updates to come from me ever again

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked, please comment/kudos, really keeps my motivation up so I can keep writing for ya'll :)


End file.
